Tomb raiding: Carrying a coffin during a funeral procession, rewarded with the Dragon Elephant Prajn

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

The main force was fully prepared and had packed their bags.

To ensure an escape route, Aning did not take all her men with her, but left four to guard the camp.

Although Tiger, one of Xiang's men, had recovered considerably after a night of rest, he was able to speak again.

However, it was clear that they couldn't withstand going into the tomb, so Xiang, the foreman, left the more experienced Lao Kuai to take care of Hu Zi.

He then led his two remaining brothers to search for another exit from the tomb.

Soon, the main force arrived at the entrance of the ancient tree cave, not far from the camp.

The mercenaries under Aning's command quickly set up rope ladders, and the group descended down to a depth of more than ten meters.

Aning took out a flashlight and shone it around.

What you see before you is a natural underground cave.

However, the rock face was wet, and water was dripping everywhere.

"Boss, there are steps here!"

Mike, the American, suddenly shouted, and everyone rushed over, only to find that there were indeed man-made steps deep inside the cave.

These steps led deeper into the area, and after walking for a short while, we saw many snakes, insects, and rodents!

Clearly, this underground cave not only has other passages, but is also home to many other creatures.

This puzzled Xiang Yunfeng, who said softly, "Ancient tombs are most vulnerable to water and insects. This is probably not a tomb chamber!"

Water accumulation is manageable, since over thousands of years, even a few geological events can inevitably lead to water accumulation.

There are also many water-pit tombs, where the burial chamber is deliberately placed underwater.

but!

Ancient tombs are most afraid of insects and ants!

After all, insects and ants can gnaw on coffins, and no tomb owner would want their remains to be eaten by insects and ants after death. Therefore, any tomb that is even slightly larger will have a good location and take measures to prevent insects and ants from entering!

"Who knows? Perhaps this Guanshan Taibao, Feng Shigu, just preferred to be buried in a place like this..."

Hei Xiazi casually made a comment.

Xiang Yunfeng pursed his lips, clearly disagreeing with Hei Xiazi's opinion.

However, since there are no clues at the moment, we can only continue to delve deeper.

After walking up the steps and turning a corner along the cave, a subterranean lake suddenly appeared before us.

There are stalactite pillars protruding from the lake, and on the rock walls next to them are many depictions of the deeds of the Black Sheep King.

Seeing this, Xiang Yunfeng nodded slightly and said, "It seems this place is related to the Black Sheep King! We previously speculated that Feng Shigu built his tomb inside the Black Sheep King's tomb, which is why he altered the feng shui of the Black Sheep King's tomb, leading to this place being infested with rats and ants."

Li Changsheng glanced at the other person and nodded slightly.

As expected of a master tomb raider from the Northern School, Xiang Yunfeng was able to guess the truth with almost perfect accuracy based on only a few clues!

Most of the secret techniques of the Guanshan Taibao sect were stolen from the coffins of the Black Sheep King's men in Coffin Gorge!

Not content with that, Feng Shigu led his people to dig up the tomb of the Black Sheep King and found the Pangu Corpse Moss inside. This gave him the idea of ​​becoming an Earth Immortal. So he tricked his people into the Earth Immortal Village and turned them all into zongzi (rice dumplings).

Of course, Feng Shigu still showed mercy and spared his younger brother Feng Shiqi's lineage, leaving some bloodline inheritance.

Otherwise, the Feng family would have been wiped out hundreds of years ago.

All I can say is that Feng Shigu has some family affection, but not much!

The underground lake in front of us was initially shallow, only up to our knees, making it easy to wade through.

After walking a hundred or two hundred steps forward, many man-made caves appeared on the rock walls on both sides of Jishui Lake.

Xiang Yunfeng, along with Mike and other mercenaries, explored each cave one by one.

"There are many human and animal bones piled up in the cave; they must be the remains of those who were buried alive with King Wuyang!"

King Wuyang lived during the Warring States period of the pre-Qin era, a time when it was common to bury slaves and prisoners of war alive with the dead.

There were no particular rules about the burial pits; most of the time, people were beheaded and their bodies were simply thrown into the pits.

However, the burial pit of King Wuyang was quite special, as it was a burial cave.

Considering the cave burials and hanging coffin burials in this area, it's understandable.

Black Bear looked at the caves on both sides of these stagnant lakes and counted them one by one.

"16, 17, 18... eighteen burial pits for sacrificial victims; these must be eighteen mass burial sites!"

"Eighteen mass graves?"

Ah Ning looked puzzled and asked softly, "What is meant by 'Eighteen Mass Burials'?"

Xiang Yunfeng explained with a smile: "The Eighteen Mass Burials was a form of burial practice during the Warring States period. It involved setting up eighteen burial pits, with each pit containing anywhere from ten to over a thousand people. However, these were all slaves, and there were hardly any burial goods, so even tomb raiders usually didn't bother with them."

In the industry, "Eighteen Chaotic Burial Sites" is synonymous with poverty, and tomb raiders would avoid them at all costs.

but!

No sooner had Xiang Yunfeng finished speaking than Mike, who was in charge of exploring the cave not far away, suddenly shouted.

"Boss, something's up here!"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then rushed over.

In the two caves at the end of the Eighteen Burial Grounds, several red-lacquered wooden coffins were prominently displayed!

Upon seeing this, Xiang Yunfeng was stunned.

"That doesn't make sense! Who would provide coffins for slaves to be buried alive with their families!"

Before he finished speaking, he quickly climbed into the cave and carefully examined the coffin.

After observing for a moment, Xiang Yunfeng suddenly realized, "No wonder there's a coffin here! This coffin isn't from the tomb of the King of Wuyang; it was brought in later. Judging from the material and the way the vermilion lacquer is applied, it's undoubtedly from the Ming Dynasty!"

Upon hearing this, Ah Ning nodded slightly.

"That explains it. Feng Shigu did indeed occupy the tomb of the King of Wuyang and disrupted the original feng shui layout of the tomb. These vermilion-lacquered wooden coffins are proof of that!"

At this point, Ah Ning's eyes burned with intensity, and she was about to order her men to open the coffin.

Regardless of whether Feng Shigu is inside the coffin, there are at least some clues about the Earth Immortal Village.

Li Changsheng looked at the coffin. The vermilion lacquered wooden coffin was decorated with a pattern of Zhong Kui eating ghosts, and adorned with seashells and animal teeth. Iron chains were also wrapped around both ends.

Xiang Yunfeng whispered, "This coffin should be in the style of western Hunan, called a vermilion-lacquered coffin. The Zhong Kui painting and chains on it are to suppress the evil spirits inside!"

Upon hearing Xiang Yunfeng's words, Mike and the others immediately stopped what they were doing.

Mike, the American, asked with a hint of fear on his face, speaking broken Mandarin: "Chief Xiang, is there an evil spirit in this coffin?"

Ghosts are something that people in both the East and the West fear.

In the East they are called ghosts and monsters, in the West they are called evil spirits.

In Africa, there's no concept of ghosts or monsters; if you did encounter one, you'd probably slap it first.

Xiang Yunfeng smiled and explained, "That's just how it's put it. Whether anyone actually knows or not is another matter. But you can rest assured, Consultant Li is here."

Upon hearing this, Mike thought about it and realized it made sense.

Even if it were an evil spirit, it probably wouldn't be as powerful as the flying zombie inside Li Changsheng's black coffin.

Mike even suspected that the flying zombie was stronger than the progenitor of vampires!